


On My Life And With It

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, I REALLY FORGOT THEY CONFIRMED ACXA AS THE WEBLUM GALRA IN S3, Post S7, SO U KNOW... IGNORE THAT, acxa might be ooc but idk she barely has a character, aka i didnt read any of the keith/acxa scenes as romantic, fix it fic sorta?, i use italics a lot sorry, sheith is only mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 04:24:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15677952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Acxa is cornered. But for the wrong reason. Which means she still has a way out.Acxa picks up the nasty habit of shadowing Voltron's movements to make sure that Keith doesn't get hurt again.





	On My Life And With It

She’s sitting on a tree branch, watching the residents on the planet go about their celebration for Voltron. She’s long forgotten the names of half the planets she visits, going through a monotonous routine led by Voltron itself. Acxa has no purpose here. She does not belong. But she stays, some sick sense of justice forcing her to stay and watch. Stay and watch. And guard.

She’s been doing this for months. Word of Voltron’s appearance on any planet surfaces almost instantly, especially when she has all Galran channels at her disposal in one handy device she’s kept. She’s been doing it for months and hasn’t been caught. She’s been doing it for months and can’t help but think that Voltron must fix this habit of letting their guard down. She is a friend of Voltron, but who knows what would happen if she was a foe. Or if there was a foe with half as much brains as her. But she realizes her only equals were killed in a blast long ago. She’s been at it for months and she knows it’s wrong. She’s been at it for months but she can’t stop.

She can see the Green Paladin and Princess Allura chatting to the residents. She doesn’t care for them. They’re not why she’s here. She sees the _old_ Black Paladin standing rigid as he listens to the planet’s leader. His eyes don’t match his posture. They keep waving over the crowd below him, searching for something. She can feel that he’s searching for the same thing as her. Finally, Acxa sees the Blue Paladin but a whiny voice in her reminds her that _technically_ he’s the Red Paladin now. The thought leaves a bitter taste on her tongue and Acxa decides she’s done scouting. Her mouth twitches in annoyance and she begins to shift her weight in the tree.

Effortlessly, she scales back down and lands gracefully. Her back is turned to the scene she was just scrutinizing, and she finds herself glaring at the tree trunk before her. She gives herself a moment to breathe, but she supposes a moment was too much.

She hears a twig break behind her. She hears the shift of weight behind her. The figure doesn’t move towards her to attack though, which means it wants something from her. She hears a cough and knows she’s done for.

“We need to talk.”

Acxa turns to face the voice, and sure enough, there is the _new_ leader of Voltron. _Her bounty,_ a soft voice in her head supplies, but she knows its wrong. There is no reward Acxa will take for harming Keith, just like there is no compensation she can give him for saving her.

She takes a moment to assess Keith and realizes his face is twisted in a gruesome scowl. His eyes burn with a fire that suits the red paladin armor he wears. Acxa can sense the waves of frustration and anger rolling off of him. Petulantly, she thinks that he has no reason to be so angered with her. Except in a way he does. She _has_ been spying on him for months, even if for good intentions.

Acxa is cornered. But for the wrong reason. Which means she still has a way out.

Acxa is cornered because Keith can’t trust her, because Keith thinks she is trying to hurt him. The notion is ridiculous and she’ll have him set straight soon enough. After all, this habit saved his life months ago, at the cost of the lives of her two closest friends. This will prove her loyalty, and she’ll pretend to give up the chase for his sake and be back at it again within the week.

It’s occurred to her that neither of them have said anything, just stared at each other with mirroring glares.

Keith looks like he’s about to burst. Acxa notes the clenched fists at his sides as he takes one big gulp of air and says-

He says-

Keith has said something that Acxa did not think was going to be a topic of discussion.

“I’m in love with Shiro.”

Acxa tries to blink the confusion out of her mind. But the questions this brings still swirl.

“Why are you telling me this?”

It’s genuine, there is no hurt or loss in her words, only bewilderment. Keith’s eyes widen for a moment before he scrunches his face in an attempt to look threatening again.

“I love Shiro and I don’t have eyes for anyone else. That will never change. I don’t want you to keep following us trying to win my heart because it’s useless to even try,” Keith says stand-offishly. It makes Acxa want to snarl. Her Galra blood is still looking for a fight.

“I don’t want to _win your heart_.” That gets Keith’s attention.

All aggressiveness leaves his body in a single movement. What’s left is a look of befuddlement that mirrors her own. She can see the gears turning in his head and nearly curses out loud. Keith gave her an alibi. Stupid as it is, it was still a better reason than why she’s actually been following Keith and his crew like a forgotten pet. She should’ve gone with the lie and saved her own skin. As revolting as the idea of having to feign attraction to Keith is, it was her best shot at getting out of the conversation and continuing her game of tag-along. She sees Keith get ready to speak and knows that this will end horrendously.

“So why _are_ you following us?”

Acxa sighs. It’s best to get this over with.

“I owe you my very life. From the Weblum, until now and past this moment, I can’t bring myself to hurt you. Now that Lotor’s gone I’ve found myself protecting you instead. I have no allies anymore, and you were the last person to show me any mercy.”

If the gears were turning before, they’ve gone into overdrive now.

“The… Weblum? You were the Galra in the Weblum?”

Acxa nods curtly and feels the need to explain herself further.

“I felt so awful, stealing from you after you rescued me, but getting the scaulrite was my mission for Lotor and if I _didn’t,_ ” she lets the silence fill in the gaps before continuing, “What good that did, huh? It was a mistake to ever align myself with Lotor, but it felt like there was no other option back then. Ever since the Weblum, I didn’t want to hurt you—betray you—again.”

Keith is silent as he analyzes Acxa for any trace of a lie. But she has shown all the cards in her deck and lies there exposed, armed with nothing but the truth.

“Why didn’t you join us? Or join the Blades?” The question stuns Acxa for a moment.

“I didn’t know that was an option for me,” she admits sheepishly.

Keith forces himself to laugh, it’s dry and breathy.

“We need all the help we can get.” He extends his hand out to Acxa and she takes it gratefully.

Keith shakes his head and adds, “And seriously? No more of that following us around nonsense. It was getting creepy.”

Acxa smiles at the jest. It’s good-natured and she feels much better talking to the Red Paladin than stalking him.

At that moment, she decides that she has worked in the shadows for far too long, and it was time to come out into the light of the sun.


End file.
